Meeting Abstract

P1.2  Tuesday, Jan. 4  Adding Insult to Injury: Primary and Secondary Costs of Tail Loss in Lizards LASALLE, L*; GOSS, J; BOOZALIS, T; DAVIS, J; Rhodes College; Rhodes College; Rhodes College; Rhodes College lasjt@rhodes.edu

Tail autonomy is an effective predator avoidance strategy used by lizards; however, it results in subsequent costs including loss of energy reserves, reduced locomotor ability, and altered behaviors and social status. Notably, tail loss can negatively affect lizards’ foraging behavior and reproductive success. We first quantified the resource costs of caudal autonomy (i.e., protein and lipid lost) using biochemical and morphological techniques to compare the protein and lipid content of proximal, medial, and distal tail regions for four lizard species. We also conducted prey detection trials to test the hypothesis that increased prey detection behavior is a mechanism by which lizards replace energy stores lost due to tail autonomy. We scored the intensity of prey detection behavior of 10 lizards before tail loss and at 50% and 95% regrowth. In addition, we used eight female and eight male lizards to test the hypothesis that social status of males decreases following tail loss. We randomly paired 1 female with 1 male, video-recorded each behavioral trial, and later analyzed the video to score the females’ spatial proximity and social behaviors towards each male. Results of this study indicate a significant loss of protein and lipid, followed by an overall decrease in activity perhaps due to predation risk or stress following tail loss. The changes in social interactions and prey detection behavior we observed may be important secondary consequences due to decreased activity.